I was very pleased to read in today’s Sunday Mail that Woolworths will open a 24/7 store on Federal Government land at Brisbane airport, avoiding Queensland’s archaic trading hours restrictions. While the Attorney-General has suggested there needs to be a thorough consultation process, I expect this would simply yield predictable responses from affected parties. Economic logic and consumer demand are clearly on the side of deregulating trading hours.

Also, I wonder why there is a presumption that retailers have to prove there is a demand for longer trading hours? Perhaps full 24/7 trading is uneconomic in many locations, but let retailers work that out for themselves as they respond to consumer demand. I expect there is a huge demand for longer trading hours, judging by the number of people who pack into our supermarkets on Saturday and Sunday afternoons just before closing time.

I’ve previously commented on retail trading hours in a number of posts: